Bring on the tempo

After Sunday’s long run, I decided to take Monday off.  Which turned out to be a good thing, my running partner canceled and I stayed late at work.   Why are Mondays always so crazy? Tuesday was a little calmer and the weather was supposed to be good, so I took the scenic route home and ran from there. 

I parked my car and set out with no real plan.  I did remember to take water this time, woo hoo!  After a little warm-up, I figured what the heck, let’s try for a tempo run.     Now I realize that I am no expert and may never be super-fast, but I consider a tempo run to be comfortably hard.   For me that would be a little slower than half marathon pace.   Which is definitely faster than my easy runs or just average runs.  Plus, when running a half marathon, you have that added adrenaline boost which helps with your pace.  It’s a RACE after all!

After a short warm up, I ran for 5 miles.  Nice way to start the week.  I followed that lovely run up with yummy tacos at taco Tuesday 🙂  Maybe counterproductive but so tasty.

This morning I had a meeting to drive to.  As I was driving down the freeway, I was checking out the half marathon route that I will be running in just over 7 weeks.   I have run it before but it was a good refresher.   I noticed that the first hill looks more like a gentle slope before it gets to the real hills.  Can’t wait!  On the downside, the meeting was held in a hotel conference room.  It was sad walking across the parking lot seeing all the people in swim suits and shorts heading to the beach or pool.  And me?  I was in an uncomfortable pencil skirt and heels 😦 Not cool.

After the meeting I headed back to work to finish out the day.  I headed to the park afterwards to get in a few miles.  Today’s run was all about speed.    I did 3 laps of the lake and I pushed; hard.   I ended up shaving 3 seconds off of my most recent 5k PR.  Not that I count it, I only count race PR’s.  I figure that’s been measured by someone else and I don’t have to rely on my possibly glitchy GPS app.    But still, I was excited!!! Maybe I felt like I had to live up to my shirt-

Fast or Last?  Because middle of the pack shirts just don’t seem to work as motivation starters!

I have a class tomorrow and Friday is my long day, so now for 2 days off.      I have a race to look forward to on Saturday morning.  I am excited, this race is supposed to be part hard pack sand, part road, part boardwalk and part soft sand.  All that in just 3.1 miles?     I have some friends running it as well, so it should be fun!!

Anyone have any big plans for the weekend?